The Pros and cons of extending Erik Lamela’s contract at Spurs

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Tottenham are considering extending Erik Lamela’s current contract but should they do it? The pros and cons.

Tottenham Hotspur are weighing up the prospect of activating an option in Erik Lamela’s contract to extend it by a further year, reports ESPN.

Lamela’s current deal with the club expires in the summer of 2019, but Spurs can add a further 12 months to that should they wish to.

So is it a good idea?

Pros

Lamela has had an interesting career at Tottenham since becoming their then club record signing after joining from Roma for £30m in 2013, and one that has not quite lived up to expectation.

That said, manager Mauricio Pochettino has seemed to get the best out of his fellow Argentine at times and showed his faith in the 25-year-old on Tuesday (February 13) when starting him against Juventus in the Champions League last-16 ahead of Heung-Min Son.

Also, with Italian publication Calciomercato claiming Inter Milan are interested in signing Lamela, having the winger tied down to a longer contract would make the North Londoners stronger when negotiating.

Cons

As previously mentioned, Lamela has never truly become the star at Spurs that was expected and that is largely due to his injury problems – with one-and-a-half of the four-and-a-half years at the club so far spent on the sidelines.

This has seen the South American fall down the pecking order and in Pochettino’s current system, the attacker is effectively battling with Son and Lucas Moura for one position with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen pretty much guaranteed the other two if fit.

Likewise, the presence of Lamela in the squad could block the potential signing of an upgrade, particularly as Tottenham have been linked with Bordeaux starlet Malcom by Sky Sports.